The Tallit

TALLIT (S) TALLIOT (P) – fringed garment…prayer shawl…traditionally worn by Jews. It is a Hebrew word which means little covering.

It represents the Righteousness of Elohim.

Has special twined and knotted fringes known as Tzizit attached to the four corners.  The cloth part is known as the “beged” and is usually made from wool or linen.  Silk is sometimes used.  The tallit can be worn under or over clothing.  The neckband is called the Atarah and has the blessing “Baruch atah Adonai”… which is recited each time before it is adorned.

The word Tallit does not appear in Torah but there are many instances where the “covering” is indicated.  Ruth asked Boaz to cover her with his garment because he was a near kinsman of Naomi (Ruth3:9).  Psalm 91 speaks of the tallit.  The woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Yeshua’s garment and was immediately healed.  (Matt. 9:20-22)  The power is in the Tzizit.  As soon as she touched the hem…the Tzitzit, Yeshua knew because He felt the power leave him.

Elohim instructed Moses (Numbers 15:38) to tell the children of Israel to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages.  It is to be a blue thread.  It is traditionally worn during morning prayers on week days and Shabbat and other Jewish holidays.  Although it has other ritual uses, the Torah states that to display the Tzitzit is to remind oneself to observe all the commandments (613) of the Lord and to guard against the sin of unbelief. NUMERICAL VALUE OF TZITZIT IS 600.  COMBINED WITH THE 5 KNOTS OF 8 THREADS GIVES A TOTAL OF 613 according to the Jewish sages. The Tallit is worn  by Jewish boys/men, who are bar mitzvah  during morning services.  It is not worn during afternoon and evening prayers because Biblical interpretation understands it to be worn only during the light of day.  Worn during morning prayers (Numbers 15:38-39), Torah reading services, during a special portion of Yom Kippur and some other holiday services, special occasions such as circumcisions, bar mitzvahs, weddings (used sometimes to make a canopy or Chuppah) over the couple, Shabbat home services for blessing the children, burial…an Orthodox Jewish man is wrapped in his Tallit when he is buried.  The Tzitzits are cut from the corners at this time.  It is important that we note that when Yeshua was placed in the tomb His Tzitzits were not removed as He would rise again in 3 days.  A form of the tallit, called the Tallit Katan may be worn at all times.

Shrouding ones head in a tallit is a way to keep the eyes from straying and to create a sense of focus…prayer closet.  It is worn by husbands as they pray in their homes and the wives are with them under the shawl.

The Tzitzit Blessing.  It is removed from the Tallit bag or the Synagogue rack, carefully unfolded, held up and inspected to ensure there are no defects on it.  Then the prayer is recited.

·         A cord of techelet, thought to be a royal blue/purple is supposed to be added to the fringe at each corner.  However the dye came from a now extinct snail found near Tyre, the color requirement has been waived.  As a reminder of the techelet either blue or sometimes black stripes are added to the tallit itself.

Many customs …do not wear your Tallit into the bathroom

The Tzitzit are kissed during the recitation of the 3^rd paragraph of the Shema (Numbers 15:37-41) which mentions the Tzitzit 3 times.